"Yu'er!" Master Ru was about to scold Feng Yu for asking such a question, but was stopped in between by a wave of the elderly woman's hand.
"My identity?" She smiled and continued, "Well, you can just call me Elder Jing. My identity isn't something you'll be aware of in any way, so it's better for you just to know my name."
"Then Elder Jing," Feng Yu lightly bowed with clasped hands and asked, "What had happened to you earlier? Why were you lying in the middle of the road like that?"
"About that…I must have been too exhausted after the long journey," Elder Jing said with a subtle frown on her face. It was clear that she didn't want to be probed any further.
However, Feng Yu didn't notice any of that. Her only focus right now was to clear the doubts that were raising in her mind.
"Then why were your robes all tatt-" Feng Yu was about to ask another question, but was interrupted by Yi Chen.
"Uhm…Yu'er, I think Elder Jing must be tired and confused after just waking up. I think we should let her settle here and rest for the night first."
"Ah!" Feng Yu exclaimed with realisation and apologised to Elder Jing, "I apologise for my oversight, Elder Jing. We'll arrange a different room for you so you can rest there for the night."
"I'll be really grateful if you do that," Elder Jing nodded with a smile as she subtly glanced towards Yi Chen. Her impression of him had improved greatly thanks to the earlier intervention by him.
"Guide Elder Jing to another guest room and help her with anything that she requires," Master Ru ordered the nearby maid, seeing the situation.
Elder Jing was soon guided out of the room to her new quarters by the maid, and the atmosphere in the room finally lightened.
Now that it was only the three of them in the room, Feng Yu immediately questioned her father, "Father, why did you look so scared of Elder Jing? Do you know her? Just what is her identity?"
Hearing his daughter's series of questions, Master Ru just showed the bottle containing the pills to her and said, "I don't know her identity…But I do know these pills, and that was enough for me to conclude she's someone we cannot dare offend,"
"Are these pills really that precious?" Feng Yu asked while looking at the bottle of pills in Master Ru's hands.
"Precious? That would be an understatement," Master Ru said while looking deeply at the bottle in his hand. The next moment, his hand reached for the bottle's lid and opened it up.
The whole room got instantly filled with a refreshing aromatic scent, and just by inhaling it, all three of them couldn't help but feel energised.
However, much to Yi Chen and Feng Yu's disappointment, Master Ru immediately closed off the lid, and the smell disappeared completely.
"Intoxicating, isn't it?" Master Ru commented while glancing at Feng Yu and Yi Chen and continued, "It's said that a single Golden Firmament Pill has the ability to bring a person back from the brink of death. All his injuries would be healed, and his Qi would be filled up. That's how much power this pill possesses."
Master Ru paused to let his words sink into their mind before continuing, "However, in the entire Light continent, it is only the Silver Cloud Kingdom that possesses the capability of refining such godly pills. However, they too can only produce a small batch of five pills every hundred years. Therefore…"
Master Ru glanced at the bottle containing more than twenty golden coloured pills in his hand and continued after a fearful gulp, "…the number of pills in my hand is quite unbelievable…it could only mean one thing. Elder Jing has a background which is incomparable to even the number one Kingdom of our continent."
"Incomparable to even the Silver Cloud Kingdom?!" A gasp escaped Feng Yu's mouth as she realised how lenient Elder Jing was towards their family. If she had somehow offended her, then the result would have been disastrous.
While Feng Yu was taken over by this fear, another string of thought was going through Yi Chen's mind. Noticing that Master Ru had finally finished with his explanation, he immediately asked him, "Then Father-in-law…since these pills can heal all injuries as well, then can't they also fully heal Feng Yu'er?"
A trace of hope, although dim, also appeared in Feng Yu's eyes when she heard Yi Chen's words and glanced towards her father in expectation.
"This…" Master Ru glanced towards Feng Yu and, seeing her expectant gaze, shook his head in disappointment.
The little hope that had appeared in her heart was instantly quashed, but she didn't blame her father for being so direct. She was already aware of her condition, so she didn't place much hope on it in the first place.
Master Ru then turned towards Yi Chen and said with a sigh, "While it's true that taking this pill would heal all her burn marks, that won't change anything for Yu'er…"
"What do you mean?" Yi Chen's forehead creased. According to him, Yu'er was concerned about her appearance the most and therefore Master Ru's words didn't make any sense to him.
Understanding his perspective, Master Ru asked, "Have you seen her burnt marks?"
"Of course I have," Yi Chen immediately replied.
"Then you must have also noticed that her burnt marks look more prominent than they should, right? One should expect them to fade a little with time, but it doesn't seem like that, does it?" Master Ru asked.
"This…" It was only now that this came to Yi Chen's notice. Earlier, he had been too focused on controlling his discomfort to look at those burnt marks so closely.
'It really is strange now that I think about it…didn't Yu'er say that her body burst into flames when she was eight years old…how come these wounds are still so prominent?'
A deeper crease formed on Yi Chen's forehead as he thought over this absurdity.
Master Ru's next words answered all his doubts.